The proposed Djermaya solar project in Chad has now arrived into a new phase following a call for bids to recruit a company to carry out the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) of its first 32 MWp phase.

This comes approximately 2 years after the government of Chad under its national utility La Société Nationale d’Electricité (SNE) entered into a 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with the 60-MWp solar power project developers, a consortium made up of Aldwich International, Smart Energies and Infraco Africa, a finance company owned by Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG).

The second phase which has a capacity of 28 MWp will be carried out when the first phase is operational to complete the entire Djermaya solar project.

The construction works of the entire project include the installation of 200,000 solar panels on an area of approximately 100 hectares about 30 km from N’Djamena, the capital city of the Central African country. It also includes the construction of an 18 km long 33 kV double circuit overhead transmission line and two 33/90 kV transformers at the Lamadji substation.

Once complete, the Djermaya solar project will be one of Chad’s first Independent Power Producers (IPP) and one of the country’s first commercial-scale solar plants.

It will also play a leading role in delivering on the government of the Republic of Chads’s National Development goals which are to liberalize the energy sector, mobilize private investment, and promote the development of renewable energy in the Central African country.

Chad heavily relies upon expensive heavy fuel oil and diesel for electricity and this makes her vulnerable to global fuel price fluctuations and supply failures.